Below is the simplest scenario for using the External Request<\/strong> action. This example is far from real-world complexity but demonstrates the setup steps and full functionality of the External Request.<\/p>\n In this example, we use the API from the service swapi.dev<\/strong><\/a>. It stores information about the Star Wars<\/em> film series: movie titles, character names and traits, descriptions of vehicles, planets, species, and so on.<\/p>\n In other words, this service is a Wikipedia for the Star Wars<\/em> universe.<\/p>\n The subscriber enters the bot.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The bot sends a request to swapi.dev with the subscriber\u2019s ID.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The service returns a description of the character whose ID matches the subscriber\u2019s ID.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The bot saves the character\u2019s name into a custom field and displays it to the subscriber.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Build a simple bot flow:<\/p>\n Add block Message 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Write a greeting text.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Add a button to go to the next step.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Add block Message 2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Display the subscriber\u2019s ID.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The external service will use this ID to find the character in its database. Add block Action 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Select the External Request<\/strong> action. The External Request settings are described below. Add block Message 3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Display the custom field where you will save the name returned from the external service.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Connect all blocks. You will get a simple bot like this. After adding the External Request<\/strong> action in Action 1<\/strong> block, click the pencil icon to open the External Request editing window. All further settings happen here. Enter the request URL. Copy and paste the URL into the URL<\/strong> field.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Replace the fixed ID “1” with a macro that automatically inserts the subscriber\u2019s internal ID. The final URL should look like this: Choose the request type. This method does not require headers or body, so proceed to test the request.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n To verify the request works and the service returns a valid response, go to the Response<\/strong> tab or click Test Request<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n In the opened tab, you see test data for the macros. The default value is “10”. You can change it if needed.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Press Send Request<\/strong> to start the test.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A “200 OK” status means the external service received your request and returned a response successfully.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n On the right side in the Response Body<\/strong> section, you can see the response data.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n You are interested in the Mapping allows you to set logic to extract the required field from the response body and save it into a specified subscriber custom field.<\/p>\n Specify 1) the path to the field in the response body (JSON Path<\/a>) and 2) the subscriber\u2019s custom field where to save it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Add a mapping and fill in the fields.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The JSON Path value Finish the External Request setup.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Be sure to save the settings by clicking Save<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Also, save the Action 1<\/strong> step settings by clicking Save and Close<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Run the bot test.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n You will get a message flow like this:<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n If you did not find the answer to your question, feel free to contact us in the chat inside your dashboard, message us on Telegram at @BotHelpSupportBot<\/strong>, or email us at hello@bothelp.io<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Get 14 Days of Full Access to the Platform<\/p>\n Enjoy the full functionality of the BotHelp platform for creating broadcasts, automated funnels, and chatbots \u2014 free for 14 days.<\/p>\nScenario Description and Setup<\/h3>\n
Scenario Steps<\/h3>\n
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Bot Setup<\/h3>\n
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\n![](\"https:\/\/files.carrotquest.io\/knowledge-bases-images\/articles\/49290\/49290-1670216076077-sr0b843j.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nExternal Request Setup<\/h3>\n
\n![](\"https:\/\/files.carrotquest.io\/knowledge-bases-images\/articles\/49290\/49290-1670216495694-yzhuotxq.png\")
<\/code><\/p>\n\n
For swapi.dev, choose the API method<\/a> returning character details:https:\/\/swapi.dev\/api\/people\/1\/<\/code><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Click the <><\/code> icon in the URL field and select the appropriate macro.<\/p>\n<\/li>\nhttps:\/\/swapi.dev\/api\/people\/{%bh_user_id%}<\/code><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
This request is a GET<\/strong> request. Select GET<\/strong> from the dropdown.
\n![](\"https:\/\/files.carrotquest.io\/knowledge-bases-images\/articles\/49290\/49290-1670216854302-jvmblkrz.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/li>\n\"name\"<\/code> field value. This is what you will save automatically into the subscriber\u2019s custom field.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![](\"https:\/\/files.carrotquest.io\/knowledge-bases-images\/articles\/49290\/49290-1670217186157-ldavaqdg.png\")
\nMapping the Response<\/h3>\n\n
$.name<\/code> returns the \"name\"<\/code> field from the response body.
For example, the test response contained the value \"Obi-Wan Kenobi\"<\/code>.
\n![](\"https:\/\/files.carrotquest.io\/knowledge-bases-images\/articles\/49290\/49290-1670217420840-lllbwfc3.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/li>\nTesting the Bot with External Request<\/h3>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/files.carrotquest.io\/knowledge-bases-images\/articles\/49290\/49290-1670217698137-jbadvjlq.png\")
\n“I am Darth Vader, who are you? \ud83d\ude42”<\/p>\n
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